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The Macintosh

Last night my roommate Kendall and I decided we needed a date night so we put on our heels and headed to upper King Street to the Macintosh. The Macintosh is part of the Indigo Road restaurants, which I am certainly a fan of, and it is almost impossible to get a reservation there on a weekend. I have always had a certain admiration for this restaurant (and for Chef Jeremiah Bacon) and speak highly of it to guest at the hotel, but it has been without much credentials of my own. Now, I have been twice before, but only for a brunch and then for a late (tipsy) dinner with Richard. Richard and I had made the mistake of thinking we could walk in at 7pm and get a reservation on a Saturday. Well, after 4 hours and multiple drinks at the bar later…we were seated and so hungry we both just got the famous Mac burger and don’t really remember all that much about it except it was GOOD!. That being said, I don’t like to count these times as far as the fancy dinner menu goes so I was excited for our date last night!

When we first arrived the place was packed as I expected. Our table wasn’t available quite yet, so we headed to the bar for a cocktail while we waited. We both got the Witch Doctor which is a vodka cucumber drink mixed with mint. It was cool, delicious, and refreshing. Almost more of a summer drink, but hey- when it’s high 70s in December in Charleston I’ll take it!

Once seated at our table with our waitress Jessica, I browsed the menu and realized this is defintely not the place for vegetarians. I think the only real vegetarian item on the menu is a vegetable plate. Chef Bacon’s menu consists of everything from seafood options, to rabbit, to duck, to steak, to pork chops. Good thing I EAT MEAT and was ready! Kendall and I decided to share plates and experience different items off the menu (kind of how I roll when eating out). We started off by ordering the scallops.

I have to say, these are the best scallops I have ever had. Hanks was currently holding the trophy and now I have to pass it on. Yall. These scallops were cooked perfectly with the most beautiful brown seared coat on top. The rest of scallop was soft and melted in your mouth and had a buttery taste. The other staples in the dish also are what sold it. The scallops came with curried pumpkin agnolotti which is an Italian ravoli stuffed with the mashed pumpkin, then creamy cauliflower, mizuna greens, and then a coconut emulsion on top which had a moist foam texture that created a creamy base for the dish. I made sure every bite I took had all the ingredients in it. Honeslty, I could sell the restaurant with just this dish.

The next dish we had was the Housemade Ricotta Gnudi. I had high standards for this because Mike Lata’s ricotta stuffed gnochi dish at Fig is one of my favorite things in this world. What made this gnudi different: it was served with BBQ Rabbit…or as I like to say BUNNY! This was a small dish with the rabbit served in what tasted like a beef type broth, with stewed carrots, celery, and the gnudi. There were also fried leek rings in the soup that I wanted more of, reminded me of the top of a green bean cassarole. For those of you that have had bunny, would you agree it has a gamey taste? I can’t decide if I like the flavor. I think I do, but I am distracted from the taste because I am eating bunny. As far as the gnudi, I wasn’t too big of a fan. I couldn’t decifer the ricotta cheese and instead it tasted a bit like plain mashed potatoes in a pasta shell.

The third dish we had was the deckle. This was a 7 oz. grilled Certified Angus Beef Deckle, aka the fat edge around a steak. Deckle is juicy and extremely tender. Kendall and I ordered it medium rare and it fell apart under our forks. They brought it out on two plates for us and it was served with a coffee jus which was strong in flavor and paired nicely with the steak and also a side of arzo, roasted broccoli, and parsnips. To be honest though, I didn’t even really touch the sides because I was creeping up on being full and only wanted to absorb what was important, and that was deckle.

Then the unspeakable happened. The chef sent out….bone…marrow…bread…pudding. I want to just shut my lap top down right now. This was unreal. I accidently told the waitress I was going to slap her. (It’s okay though because that’s what we say down here when we really like something) This bread pudding is made just like french toast, but add in some bone marrow and you have yourself a good ole Southern treat. What’s not to love about delicous bread soaked in fat and then fried? You can even tell from the picture how fluffy and light the texture was and how it would just disolve in your mouth, which is the only reason I could keep eating. The second side we received were brussel sprouts. They were seasoned with garlic and mixed with cooked onions and I wish I could have eaten more, but at this point I was done.

Today I was checking in a guest and they asked if I liked living here. I shared with her my previous nights occasion at the Macintosh and how I still get so impressed with this city and all of the restaurants. It really is cool to have an amazing dinner just blocks away and feel like I had a mini vacation night out in my own city.